Secunia Online Scanner has told me that I do NOT have Java installed on my Vista computer. I spent all day yesterday trying to install it to no avail. I tried everything that I could Google up to do it. No such luck. I even disabled my ESET Smart Security Firewall which I was totally devastated to do. I had panic attacks all day from doing that I'll tell you.

Thank you and appreciate any and tips on this problem. How do I get replies, by email? I don't know how this works - newbie here.

I have Vista Premium Home Edition 32 bit and you already know my security suite. Any other questions - fire away. I'm fresh out of ideas here and exhausted trying to resolve it on my own. Assuming that it really needs resolving which I'm not completely sure of. Java and Javascript it totally Greek to me. All things techie are, truly. I don't understand the nomenclature, just simple English, step by step - so shortcuts or techie acronyms. Strart from the premise that I know nothing (truth anyway), nada, nil, zilch.

The enclosed link may help you-when you go there Java tests your system to see if/what version is installed, if problems exists there are links for download/help, but be advised that their helpline has to be paid for, it's not free. http://java.com/en/download/help/testvm.xml

OK - we will continue as before.
Firstly I am slightly confused. U have triggered the thread by saying U are using PSI yet U keep saying U are running OSI.

Despite being a newbie U should first update to PSI ADVANCED MODE. Not only will U benefit by having more of your PC scanned for insecurities but it will give U more information to relay to this Forum & a toolbox to help.

To install PSI go here:http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/
Once downloaded look at the top right hand corner for SIMPLE & ADVANCED.
Click ADVANCED - Simple should now be coloured blue. U may get a message about advanced users etc - ignore it - using the advanced mode is easy as U will find out.

U will also note a series of tabs on the Overview page.
Firstly, are the graphics showing? They should be green.
Secondly set up the settings tab. I advise U leave the top box empty & tick the bottom 2 boxes.
Thirdly check your Secunia profile is set up. If not, U can use the same details as OSI.
Now click the scan tab & run a full scan.

Study the scan results - is there any reference to JAVA in either the Insecure/End Of Life/Patched/Secure Browsing tabs?

For Maurice ,
Just a point Maurice , I think if Java applets cannot be found OSI says so & will not run . This tends to be a browser problem with OSI .
PSI GUI used to have load problems if Java(script?) is not loaded on the PC.
Back to you on Mars.
Take care
Anthony

You probably do have Java , but your browser won't let Secunia OSI "read" it if it's not "enabled" actually in the browser.
I'm sure Maurice can/will answer much better than I can ; but in the case of OSI we will need to know which browser you are using - IE or Firefox or Chrome or another - then he can tell you how to "enable" Java and Javascript.
I would suggest as a newbie , you would really benefit from having a friend help you understand the basics . I was lucky enough to have a good friend explain lots of things over the 'phone and used Google and forums to fill in gaps. He is/was very insistent on only telling me what I could use without getting into trouble - as in , if you don't understand , don't fiddle by yourself & most things are a logical consequence of your actions ; although they can be irreparable .
And of course , if it ain't broke , don't fix it .
After a couple of years or so I've become quite confident.
Download PSI &get back to us.

Thanks Anthony. You are very kind, sensitive and thoughtful. Lots of dummies like myself are all too often terrified to ask for help online lest we endure pompus and condencing types. Some pretty rude and mean ones too. I've surfed my way around kajillions and LORDY my eyeballs shot out of my head.

I really like and respect Secunia so I took a GIANT chance posting here. Just want to give you and others credit for the time, patience and help you've given me so far.

I still am having mucho big problems though in spite of it all. I'm just about ready to give up or put a cinder block through this dang computer.

I go back and forth between FF3 and IE8 - latest versions, natch, thanks to Secunia
.
Same with "Windows Mail" and Thunderbird.

For Security I have ESET Smart Security Suite latest version of v4. (Some of you may be familiar with their noted + well respected anti-spyware: Nod32)

I also use free versions of Threatfire, Sandboxie and a weekly scan from Super-Anitspyware (ONLY one I can find anywhere on the entire Internet that actually DOES find and delete "Tracking Cookies") and Malwarebytes. The latter one once found 3 "things" on a scan that somehow slipped through the highly touted Nod32 anti-spyware. So now I have the free version and run a weekly scan. Never finds anything anymore, thank goodness!

I have the paid version of AdvancedSystems Care Pro and run a weekly scan.

ESET wants me to chuck Sandboxie and Threatfire but trolling through various forums I have found many ESET users that use one or the other with no problem. Some both. For a long time as well. So, I'm confounded by that advice. I truly hate to give up my sandbox. Imagine opening up any email without one? I can't. Also, I've read all over the place that Threatfire works alongside all anti-spyware just fine and does NOT interfere with it. A huge conundrum indeed.

Still hoping for a miracle.

Maurice,

I'm having a little trouble trying to follow your link and instructions. Will keep trying though. Are you suggesting to chuck the Online Scanner and just go with the PSI - Advanced? I've never heard of Advanced PSI but I love nothing better than to learn new things.

1) I would consider Sandboxie as the absolute base to secure browsing - never mind what eset tell you .
2) you appear to have an excellent security base - remember to use it & itcan never be 100%

Most of what keeps me safe I learnt from Gizmo Richards , He's highly respected and "easy" to understand ; he's also a Sandboxie , Secunia & Eset (or rather NOD32)fan.
If you want to , try reading his secure browsing advice at this link:

Maurice, don't bail out. You know you are my IT hero-besides I agree with you on installing PSI & running in the Advance mode. Stay tuned for more on this subject-it may take all of us to settle the problem. BTW we may need to call on puget 1 for help.

Thank you very, very much. I just installed the PSI-Advanced. Ran a scan and came out 100% secure and up-to-date. Felt great.

Just for the heck of it I went to the Secunia online scanner website and hit "Start". Guess what? It still is telling me that I do NOT have Java. I'm back where I started with my very first post. Gack!

Heck, I must've installed it correctly 5 times this week and it shows up in my Control Panel for add/remove programs. That definetly does mean I absolutely do have it, correct?

It looks to me like this major conundrum is never going to be solved. I even shut off Threatfire to see if that would make a difference. It made no difference at all.

I cannot figure this out Secunia Corp. Could somebody from Secunia (I'm beyond desperate now) please tell me why this happens to some people? What are the usual reasons that cause Secunia to put up a prompt saying "this machine does not have Java installed" when it clearly does, PLEASE?

osgood 74 I agree 100% with Anthony Wells last post. Having said that I also agree w/Maurice Joyce earlier post asking where Secunia PSI is finding Java(tm)? If the PSI isn't finding it, it ain't there, therefore we need to know is it there or isn't it working? 2 entirely different problems. Forget scanning w/OSI & what it says-that's been established long ago & isn't paramount to the problem(s). @ this time the only other suggestion I have is this-open Control Panel there you will find Java(tm)control panel-in Vista classic view this is the "coffee cup" w/JAVA under it. Open & under the General tab midway of the window it says Network Setting & explains how Java(tm) connects to the internet. Open the Network Settings tab(it's the only choice)& make sure the radio button is set @ Use browser settings. There could be several conflicts as you mentioned. The one I would definitely research is Eset & Threatfire. I also use the Eset program-& if I remember correctly Wilders Security is the official forum for Eset. If Eset & the majority of that forum suggest not to use Threatfire i'd drop it like the Titanic. Sometimes too much of a good thing can cause problems. Anyhoo hope you get things worked out-don't lose faith-anything worth having is worth working for-if it all was easy would it really be worth it? To Maurice Joyce-hope you're sitting by & enjoying this-don't give up on Anthony Wells & myself-someday we might be ALMOST as good as you. Hope some of this info is helpful. Please post back & keep us up-to-date, that way we & others reading the Forum can stay informed about what works & what doesn't.

I now have Java working on FF3. It's enabled under "plug-ins" as well as Javascript (whatever the heck that is). I mainly use FF & Tbird. They load up much quicker than IE8 which is very, very slow. No clue why it's 10 times slower than IE7 was. I hear it's much more secure so that is why I upgraded. Now I can't go back to IE7 - I tried in vain for 2 days. DRATS!!!

Speaking of IE8, I just download and installed today's updated PSI 1.5 and ran it expecting to get another clean 100% result report. Lo and behold, it told me everything IS patched but that "I have 1 Insecure Program - With NO SOLUTION". And that was IE8. Was I shocked to learn that after being told it was all this and that. Hmm.

Now if I ever use it at all it will only be when I open it with Sandboxie. That will really, really be S L O W, lol. ;-)

Thank goodness for Secunia. Keep's one right on top of things. I'm now subscribed to the weekly newsletter. Should I subscribe to the ADVISORIES? I don't know what those are or if I will even understand them.

I did take the advice to ditch Threatfire which was very hard for "totally insecure while online" me to do. I miss it already (like being fully armed, heh) but all of you know about such things plus ESET did tell me to ditch it also. I only know what I read online and what I read online lots of times was that it works WELL with ESET and all anti-spyware including ESET. Go figure.

I'm very familiar with Wilders ESET forum. That's just one of the many places I've trolled around in a lot.

Good to know you've gotten your problems solved. From all I've read online about IE8, yes there are 'holes' & M$ knows of them & someday will provide patch(s). M$, Java(tm), & Adobe to name a few always seem to drag their feet when insecurities are found. Anyway, glad you're @ 100% & hopefully can stay that way with Secunias PSI help. Happy cyber-surfing.

Copied this off of a Nod32 User's (the anti-spyware module of ESET's Suite) Guide:

"Host Intrusion Prevention System (HIPS)

Host Intrusion Prevention System (HIPS) protects your system from malware or any unwanted activity attempting to negatively affect the security of your computer. It utilizes advanced behavioral analysis coupled with the detection capabilities of network filter to monitor running processes, files and registry keys, actively blocking and preventing any such attempts."

Now since I do have HIPS in my security arsenal which is getting smaller, sob, that forever cancels out me reinstalling Threatfire, correct?

MyFF add-ons are:

WOT
BetterPrivacy 1.29
TACO 1.7 (cookie opt-out)
StumbleUpon

I'd add at least 2 dozen more but then it would take as long as (tagged TODAY as "insecure")IE8 to load up I am guessing, not sure about that.

I should have the security ones instead, correct? Which ones are the "absolutely must have" security add-ons that make Firefox Blow Away IE? Since I surf using Sandboxie there may or may not be some of them I don't require, I hope, correct?

Those will be my last questions and I'll disappear forever and leave you super-intelligent, gracious, generous, very kind, patient, extremely wonderful people alone and miss you as well.

Nicest thing anybody said to me all day , unless you were actually referring to MJ & wr. We don't get older , we just get slower & that includes my multifocals & one finger typing.

I think that your security is just what you need , as is & you have set TF free to fly away (it used to be called CyberHawk) -just let it go !!

Addons & extensions will slow you down , but they can be fun ; test one for a few days & see how it runs.

I use "CoolPreviews" when I am doing "research" & find it invaluable.
I prefer to use Google Toolbar rather than the Ff standard & I use "LinkExtend" which includes WOT and other site advisers.
If you click the "view" tab at the top of Ff & click "toolbars" you can decide which toolbars show at the top of the screen.

Keep WOT as you had it originally - reload it if necessary ; it's not in Google toolbar , which has other toys to add & subtract . You should find that you control WOT from the Ff "tools" tab menu .

LinkExtend combines the info from 8 site advisers , one of which is WOT ; the child safety is optional . There's no rush , try it sometime. It also has a fascinating IXQuick SuperSearch system - makes a change from Google , etc.